


You take the Good with the Bad

by Soulbarebones



Series: Asterisk [38]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-26
Updated: 2018-05-26
Packaged: 2019-05-14 00:43:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14759379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Soulbarebones/pseuds/Soulbarebones
Summary: Surprise! Jude returns from Puerto Rico





	You take the Good with the Bad

Four vehicles were crammed into his grandmother's driveway and if Jude hadn't known it was Sunday, he could have guessed just based on that. He paid the cab driver and climbed out of the car, shouldering his backpack as he made his way up the walk. He glanced at the cheap watch on his wrist, grinned to himself, and knocked on the door.

It was a minute before anyone answered. He could hear the noise of the game through the open windows and a breeze blew past, wafting the smell of the roast cooking inside. He inhaled deeply and was just raising his fist to knock again when the door popped open. Gabe, Jude's father, glanced at him, then back over his shoulder, presumably at the television. "Yeah?"

Jude just stood there, grinning like an idiot. He knew his skin was tawny and his dark curls were an uncut mop beneath a worn, red cap. He shoved the brim up and waited.

"Well?" Gabe snapped, eyes flicking impatiently back to Jude. They widened with recognition and surprise, and his arms flashed out, enveloping Jude in a tight embrace.

"Jesus. Jesus Christ, boy. Where the fuck have you been?"

"Puerto Rico," Jude laughed into his father's shoulder, the crushing hug muffling him.

"What is with this Goddamn family, just disappearing and reappearing, and giving everyone a fucking heart attack...don't you know how to use a Goddamn phone?"

The commotion at the front door drew attention and one by one, the rest of his family rushed to the door, pulling Jude into hug after hug. There were tears in his mothers eyes, and Cookie was laughing and crying. Pops gripped his shoulder and gave it a shake, and Olivia punched him hard in the arm after pulling free from her hug.

"It's a good thing you're back," Brooke said after Jude had been dragged to the table and a spot set for him. He had a cold drink and his grandmother had brought him a fresh buttered roll to eat even though dinner wasn't quite ready yet. "I almost had to name my firstborn child after you in your memory and another poor kid almost got saddled with a lifetime of one shitty track of The Beatles on repeat..."

"Your firstborn child?" Jude's eyes widened as he talked around a mouthful of bread. "Are you pregnant?"

"God no!" Brooke scoffed. "But, I mean. In the future. You know. And Judy is such a shit name for a little girl these days. Might as well call her Karen..."

Her eyes shone and she kicked him under the table. Beside him, his mother brushed back his hair and squeezed the back of his neck. He could see the lingering traces of fear in her eyes behind the tears of joy and his stomach dropped a little.

"I'm sorry," he said, leaning over to kiss his mother's cheek. His eyes flicked to Brooke, Olivia, his father, and Pops. "I didn't mean to go off grid and scare everyone. I dropped my phone off a roof and smashed it to shit, and then I couldn't get another one. There's still no electricity and it's hard enough for people who live there to get supplies, I didn't want to take away someone else's opportunity to get inn touch with their family. I knew the company would get a hold of Pops if something happened to me, so I just figured...no news is good news..."

"I'm just so glad that you're safe..." Katherine squeezed his forearm, then took his hand, holding on tightly. Jude knew what they'd all been afraid of, and for the first time, he realized, maybe he should have made more of an effort to check in.

"Yeah..." He offered a tight-lipped smile and glanced away, wondering if any of them even had an inkling of the horrors that were just day-to-day occurrences now in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or if it was just a knee-jerk reaction to his absence from The Family Reach. "I know. I'm good though. I'm here."

"And we are never letting you ought of our sight again!" Cookie said, hauling the roast pan from the oven and putting it on top of the stove to rest. She threw the oven mitts on the counter top and dusted her hands on her apron as she came into the dining room. The tone of her voice said she was joking but the way she looked at him said more than words ever could.

Maybe now was not the time to tell them all he already planned to go back. Another look at the sea of faces surrounding him solidified that thought. Definitely not the time for that.

"So..." Jude forced his grin wider. "What's for dinner?"


End file.
